Monday, July 27, 2015

Transcendence (2014) [PG-13] ***

A
film review by James Berardinelli for ReelViews.net on April 18, 2014.

To
be fair, Transcendence contains its
share of big ideas - science fiction
tropes that have fascinated readers and viewers for decades, ever since the
concept of computer sentience became fodder for stories and movies.
Unfortunately, it takes more than grand concepts to make a movie and the lack
of cinematic connective tissue is apparent in this poorly focused, meandering,
and ultimately disappointing film. Arguably more than any other genre, science
fiction has an obligation to seduce the viewer into applying the willing suspension of disbelief (the
means by which contrivances are overlooked). With its plot holes and
head-scratching incongruities, Transcendence
fails in this arena thereby making the production as a whole feel bloated and
unsatisfying.

Johnny Depp plays Will Caster, a
computer genius who is close to making a key breakthrough in the advancement of
artificial intelligence. This makes him the target of fringe terrorist groups
who believe the rise of the computer is leading to the downfall of humankind.
They strike out at Will, critically injuring him. With only five weeks to live,
he begins the process of uploading his consciousness into the most advanced
computer on earth - a project continued by his wife, Evelyn (Rebecca Hall), and a colleague, Max
Waters (Paul Bettany), after his
death. The process works but the transcended
Will is a cold, dangerous entity whose sole goal is the accumulation of
knowledge and power. Max is immediately aware of the situation and alerts
others, including fellow computer scientist, Joseph Tagger (Morgan Freeman), and FBI agent Buchanan
(Cillian Murphy). But it takes
longer for Evelyn to realize that the Will
in the machine is no longer the man she loved.

This
is the directorial debut for Wally
Pfister, the veteran cinematographer who has worked behind the camera on
all of Christopher Nolan's films since Memento.
The film, which was shot on film in a digital era, looks great and the special
effects are first-rate, but the same degree of care wasn't accorded to things
like storytelling and character development. There are chunks of Transcendence that don't make sense
including a bit about a computer virus. There's no chemistry between Johnny
Depp and Rebecca Hall and their characters' love story, so critical to making
the narrative come alive, never feels real. There's a powerful romantic tragedy
in Transcendence but it never
achieves critical mass.

There's
also a key structural flaw. The screenplay, credited to Jack Paglen, opts to present the majority of the story as a
flashback. To that end, we start with a world where the Internet no longer
exists (and its absence has taken down the power grid) and the main characters
are no more. There doesn't seem to be a compelling reason to present things
using this chronology and it leeches away much-needed tension. All the while as
Computer-Will's power is growing, we know how things are going to turn out.
This makes it difficult to remain invested in the narrative.

Pfister's
high industry profile allowed him to assemble a top-notch cast (although
Christian Bale, originally pegged to play Will, had to drop out because of
scheduling conflicts). Depp is strangely muted here, which some might consider
a pleasant change after a recent series of over-the-top roles. Rebecca Hall is
off-key, struggling to find the right note for an underwritten yet critical
character. Paul Bettany, Cillian Murphy, and Morgan Freeman (the latter two
worked with Pfister on the Batman
movies) are underused. They spend a lot of time standing around not doing much.

Those
who are fascinated by the potential for computer sentience will find some
things in Transcendence to mull over,
although the most compelling aspects of the movie are derivative. Parts of the
film hearken back to a TV episode of the original Star Trek (Where No Man Has Gone Before) that aired
in 1966. A more recent antecedent is Spike Jonze's Her, which asks some of the same questions with greater eloquence
and resonance. Too often, Transcendence
shows a marked preference for what Shakespeare called sound and fury, signifying nothing. [Berardinelli’s rating: ** out
of 4 stars]